Announcement on Quarantine Requirements for Imported Bolivian Chia Seed Plants

Announcement No. 6 of 2025 by the General Administration of Customs (Announcement on Quarantine Requirements for Imported Bolivian Chia Seed Plants), the following is the content of the announcement:

Announcement No. 6 of 2025 by the General Administration of Customs

According to relevant laws and regulations in China and the Protocol on Phytosanitary Requirements for Bolivian chia Seeds Exported to China between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Rural Development and Land of Bolivia, it is now allowed to import Bolivian chia seeds that meet relevant requirements.

1、 Inspection and quarantine basis

（1） Biosafety Law of the People's Republic of China;

（2） The Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementing regulations;

（3） Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementing regulations;

（4） The Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementing regulations;

（5） Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Import and Export Grain Inspection and Quarantine;

（6） Measures for the Administration of Import and Export Food Safety of the People's Republic of China;

（7） Protocol between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Rural Development and Land of Bolivia on Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Bolivian chia Seeds to China.

2、 Allow entry of product names

The Chia Seed referred to in this announcement refers to Salvia Hispanica L. seeds grown and processed in Bolivia, which are made through processes such as secondary cleaning, drying, screening, magnetic separation cleaning, and metal detection.

3、 Permitted place of origin

The entire territory of Bolivia.

4、 Enterprise registration

The processing enterprises exporting chia seeds to China shall be registered with the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Chinese side). The Bolivian National Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Bolivian side) shall provide the Chinese side with a list of relevant enterprises in advance. After passing the inspection or review, the Chinese side will register and publish the list of relevant enterprises on the website of the General Administration of Customs.

5、 Quarantine pests

Qiya seeds exported to China are not allowed to carry the following quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side:

1. Ambrosia artemisiifolia

2. Cenchrus echinatus

3. Cuscuta spp

4. Fake Sorghum halepense

6、 Pre shipment requirements

（1） Production requirements.

1. The Bolivian side should adopt internationally recognized investigation and monitoring methods to conduct epidemic investigation and monitoring of quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side during the growth and storage periods of Salvia miltiorrhiza, and submit monitoring reports on the occurrence of the above-mentioned pests in the production area as required by the Chinese side, including monitoring methods and results, as well as other information required by the Chinese side.

2. Bolivia should supervise planting enterprises to establish an Integrated Pest Control (IPM) system, implement effective field pest control measures, and reduce the occurrence of harmful organisms of concern to China. In the prevention and control of harmful organisms, pesticides prohibited by the Chinese side shall not be used.

During the production and processing of Huaqiya seeds, measures such as screening and impurity removal must be taken, and soil, plant residues, impurities, and dangerous toxic and harmful weed seeds must not be carried.

4. Qiya seeds exported to China should undergo effective drying treatment before export. They should be dried in a closed drying equipment at a temperature of 65 ℃ or above and heated for at least 10 hours.

（2） Packaging and transportation requirements.

1. Qiya seeds exported to China must be packaged in clean and unused materials that do not contain toxic or harmful substances. Each package should have at least one label indicating the company name, registration number, and in both Chinese and English, "Chia Seed from Bolivia to the People's Republic of China" and "CHIA SEED TO BE EXPORTED TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA".

2. The container used for shipping chia seeds must be cleaned.

（3） Pre export inspection, quarantine, and certification requirements.

Before export, the Bolivian side must conduct inspection and quarantine on the imported Qiya seeds, issue a phytosanitary certificate for those that meet the requirements, and indicate in an additional statement: “This consignment complies with the requirements described in the Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Chia Seeds from BOLIVIA to China and is free from quarantine pests concerned to China.”（ This batch of goods meets the requirements of the Protocol on Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Bolivian chia Seeds to China, and does not contain any quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side. At the same time, the company name, registration number, and container number of this batch of goods should be indicated.

After the goods are loaded into the container, they should be sealed and the seal number should be indicated in the phytosanitary certificate. During transportation, packaging must not be opened or replaced.

7、 Entry inspection and quarantine

（1） Certificate verification.

1. Verify whether it comes from a registered enterprise;

2. Verify whether the accompanying phytosanitary certificate is genuine and valid.

（2） Inspection and supervision of goods.

1. According to relevant laws, administrative regulations, rules and other provisions, and in accordance with the requirements of this announcement, inspection and quarantine shall be carried out on chia seeds. After passing the inspection, they shall be allowed to enter the country;

2. Qiya seeds exported to China should undergo inspection and quarantine at the designated supervision site of Chinese customs.

（3） Handling of non-compliance situations.

1. If there is no valid phytosanitary certificate, it shall be returned or destroyed;

2. Returned or destroyed from unregistered processing enterprises;

3. If soil is found, it should be returned or destroyed;

4. If the quarantine harmful organisms of concern to the Chinese side listed in this announcement are intercepted, the relevant goods shall be allowed to enter the country after effective quarantine treatment and qualification. If quarantine treatment cannot be carried out, it shall be returned or destroyed;

If harmful organisms other than those listed in this announcement are intercepted, they shall be dealt with in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine" and its implementing regulations;

6. Any other situations that do not comply with China's entry inspection and quarantine requirements will be handled in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

Upon discovering the aforementioned violations, the Chinese side will notify the Bolivian side and, depending on the severity of the violations, take measures such as suspending the export of relevant registered enterprises, and even suspending the export of Bolivian chia seeds to China, until the Bolivian side takes effective improvement measures.

This is to announce.

General Administration of Customs

January 10th, 2025

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